Guide to the Swedish income tax return (Inkomstdeklaration 1) if you work in Denmark and live in Sweden
This information is for EU/EEA citizens only
Tax residence and declaration in Sweden
If you live in Sweden and have income from Denmark, you must complete a tax return in Sweden in addition to your Danish annual tax return, as Sweden is your tax residence.
Many people think that tax residence has to do with where you work and mainly pay your taxes, but this is not the case. Your tax residence is usually in the country where you live. Even if you work full-time in Denmark and pay tax on your income there, you must also fill in a tax return in Sweden. As a resident of Sweden, you have full tax liability.
This means that you must declare all your worldwide income in your Swedish tax return, regardless of whether you have already paid tax on it in another country. Your salary from Denmark is usually - but not always - exempt from Swedish tax. However, capital income is taxed in Sweden.
Read more about how to declare some common types of income when you live in Sweden and work in Denmark further down in this article.
If you have worked remotely in 2023, your salary from Denmark may be taxed in Sweden.
As an employee of a private Danish employer, the Øresund Agreement applies, which means that you pay tax on your salary in your main country of work, Denmark, if you have worked there at least half of the working days during a three-month period, and the rest of the time at your home in Sweden or on temporary business trips. Note that holidays, paid sick days and part of a working day in Denmark count as full working days in Denmark. If you do not fulfil the requirement of working more than 50 % in Denmark, the Øresund Agreement does not apply to you.
You will then need to calculate an apportionment of your salary based on the number of active working days in Denmark and Sweden during the period when you were not covered by the Øresund Agreement. During this period, salary for working days in Denmark will be taxed in Denmark, and salary for working days in Sweden and on business trips in countries other than Denmark will be taxed in Sweden.
Read more in our article about taxation when working remote
Read more about living in Sweden and working in Denmark and the Öresund agreement on skat.dk
Read more about the Öresund agreement on skat.dk
If you are employed by a Danish public sector employer, the Øresund Agreement does not apply to you. If you have worked at home in Sweden, you must distribute your salary based on the actual working hours in Denmark and Sweden respectively. This means that you will be taxed in Denmark for the days you have worked in Denmark and in Sweden for the days you have worked from home.
You need to calculate an allocation of salary based on active working time in each country.
You can calculate the total number of working days during the year and how many of those days you worked in Denmark and Sweden. Divide the number of working days in Sweden by the total number of working days and multiply it by the annual salary. You have now calculated the salary for work done in Sweden.
As you are not taxed on the remote working days in Denmark, this means that you need to adjust the income in the Danish annual tax return. You can find more information in our article on declaring tax when working in Denmark.
Read more in our article on declaring tax when working in Denmark
- You can log in to skatteverket.se and view your tax return between 4th and 8th of March. If you have a digital mailbox, you will also receive your tax return as a PDF-file.
- If you do not have a digital mailbox, you will have a paper declaration sent to your home between March 15 and April 15.
- The e-service Income Declaration 1 will open on March 19. You can declare digitally with your e-identification, regardless of whether you have received your declaration digitally or on paper.
- The last day to declare is May 2nd.
In the Swedish declaration, all data must be entered in Swedish kronor.
Use the exchange rate on the payment date or the Riksbank's average exchange rate for 2023 (1 DKK = 1.5403 SEK).
Common fields in the Swedish Income Tax Return
If you have worked at your workplace in Denmark and paid tax on your salary there, you do not normally have to pay tax on the same salary in Sweden. This is because the income is exempt from Swedish tax according to the tax agreement. Different rules apply for artists and flying personnel - read more under Salary from Denmark that is taxed in Sweden.
Even if you do not have to pay tax on the salary in Sweden, you must tick that you have had foreign income under section 17, “Other information”.
Under "Other" you provide information about:
- type of income, e.g. salary + name of employer
- which country the income comes from
- in which country the work was performed
- the amount of income in DKK and converted to SEK
- whether the income is tax-free in Sweden, for example, because you have worked on site in Denmark according to the Øresund Agreement.
There are some situations where your salary and benefits from Denmark are taxed in Sweden. This is the case if, for example, you have worked as an artist or as a flight attendant.
It is also the case if you have worked in Sweden on behalf of your Danish employer and the Øresund Agreement does not apply. Read more about how to calculate the correct income under the heading "Have you worked remotely in 2023?"
First, convert the income to be taxed in Sweden to Swedish kronor.
If you are covered by Danish social security, enter the income converted to SEK in box 1.5: "Andra pensionsgrundande inkomster". If you are covered by Swedish social security, enter the income in box 1.1: "Lön förmåner, sjukpenning m.m."
In box 17 "Övriga upplysningar" you must tick that you have had income from abroad.
In the field "Övrigt" you must provide an explanation of the income.
Enter:
- type of income + name of employer
- which country the income comes from
- amount of income in DKK and converted to SEK
- where the work was performed. If you have worked both in Denmark and Sweden for the same employer, you must also enter the total number of working days + how many days you have worked in Denmark and Sweden.
If you have worked as an artist and have also been taxed in Denmark, you must also tick that you are applying for a foreign tax deduction. Specify how much tax you have paid on your income in Denmark.
NOTE! If you have an employer-administered pension scheme in Denmark, in some cases you must include both the employer's and your own contributions to the occupational pension in the basis for the taxable salary in the Swedish tax return. This is the case, for example, if the Danish labour market pension is classified as an endowment, ie capital insurance in Sweden (e.g. 53 A insurance). If you are unsure which amount to include in your tax return, explain this under " Övriga upplysningar ".
You can find more information about the Swedish tax return in the Swedish Tax Agency's tax return guide.
Read more about working abroad on Skatteverket's website
Read more about declaring your foreign income at Skatteverket's website
Have you received Danish social benefits such as sickness or maternity benefits from Udbetaling Danmark or a Danish unemployment insurance fund? These are taxed in both Sweden and Denmark, and you can receive credit for the Danish tax in your Swedish tax.
Convert the gross amount to Swedish kronor and enter it in section 1.5 "Andra inkomster som inte är pensionsgrundande".
Tick under item 17 " Övriga upplysningar " that you have had income from abroad. If you have paid tax on the income in Denmark, you must also tick "I request credit for foreign tax".
Under "Övrigt", enter information about the type of income, for example, parental leave from Denmark, the amount of income paid and foreign tax in DKK converted to SEK. If you do not know how much the final Danish tax will be when you submit your tax return, you must state this on the tax return and complete the tax return as soon as you know the amount.
From March 2024, you who receive pension from Denmark will be able to see your pension income on skatteverket.se. They are also included in the specification for Income Declaration 1, which is included with your tax return.
If you receive pension from Denmark, you will normally also be taxed on it in Sweden. You must include the pension income in your Swedish tax return. You convert the income to Swedish kronor and fill in the amount in either box 1.3 for state pension, ATP and occupational pension or 1.4 for private pension.
Read more about filing your foreign income on Skatteverket's website
Calculate foreign income at skatteverket.se (in Swedish)
If you have also paid Danish tax on your pensions, tick the box "Jag begär avräkning för utländsk skatt" under "Övriga upplysningar". State how much tax you have paid in Denmark converted to Swedish kronor. You can receive credit for Danish tax up to the amount that corresponds to the Swedish tax on your Danish pension income.
If you do not know the amount of the final Danish tax when you submit your tax return, you must state this on the return and complete it as soon as you know the amount.
Read more about how pensions from other countries are taxed in Sweden on skatteverket.se
If you live in Sweden and are entitled to a Danish labour market pension in the form of annuity insurance or endowment insurance, you must report the value of the insurance as a basis for yield tax in your tax return (box 9.1 or box 9.2).
Read more about yield tax on foreign life insurances on Skatteverket's website
If you have paid PAL-tax in Denmark for your insurance, you are entitled to a deduction of the Swedish dividend tax - state this in your tax return.
If you live in Sweden, you must declare your interest income in Sweden. If you have had interest income from a Danish bank, you must therefore add the income converted to SEK in box 7.2.
Provide an explanation under section 17 "Övriga upplysningar".
You will not be taxed on the interest income in Denmark.
If you live in Sweden, you must pay tax on all capital income in Sweden. This includes, for example, income from shares and income from renting and selling a private home.
Denmark has the right to tax dividends from Danish shares at a maximum of 15%. Under section 17, Other information, tick that you request credit for foreign tax and state how much tax you have paid in Denmark.
You can find more information on how to declare capital income at skatteverket.se.
If you live in Sweden, you have unlimited tax liability and you are entitled to deduct your interest expenses in Swedish taxation, even if you choose to use the Danish cross-border rules and deduct the interest expenses in your Danish tax return. Interests that you have paid to Swedish loan providers are normally preprinted under the section 8.1 in the Income Declaration 1.
